It's hard to imagine given the monopoly realm the game has entered in recent seasons, but it was only 40 years ago when the first million-pound signing shook the footballing world.

What might surprise modern fans even more is that the club which paid that landmark fee for Birmingham City star Trevor Francis was Nottingham Forest.

Legendary Forest manager Brian Clough made history by doubling the previous transfer record of £516,000 to sign 24-year-old Francis, who was by then a First Division goal machine and England international.

Speaking to Tribalfootball about his riveting new autobiography, One In A Million, Francis admits it is impossible to understand the impact of his move given today's exorbitant transfer fees.

He said: "I do think that the last few years it has gone ridiculously out of proportion to the point now where I don't think anyone cares or bothers as much as they when I was transferred.

"There was far, far greater interest with the first million pound transfer to the current transfer fees.

"With respect to the time when I played, footballers went for what I considered to be reasonably sensible transfer fees, today, I hear £20m, £30m and I'm asking the question: who's he? I've never heard of him."

In February 1979, Forest manager Clough wanted to add firepower to the defending First Division champions and decided on Francis, who had made his professional debut for Birmingham at 16 and went on to score 119 goals in 280 league appearances.

Every penny spent on Francis was repaid at the end of his debut season when he scored the winning goal in the European Cup final against Swedish side Malmo.

Deep in the first-half in Munich, John Robertson found space on the left-wing before he lofted a teasing cross to the back-post, where an outstretched Francis managed to head the ball and once again write his name in the history books.

Video Courtesy of UEFA

Injuries plagued Francis over the next two seasons at Forest, and despite scoring vital goals in the European Cup quarter and semi-finals, Clough sold his record signing to Manchester City in September 1981.

Asked if he has any regrets about his Forest career, Francis replies: "Yes but that wasn't my doing.

"Brian made a decision that I was going to move, as he did with many of the European Cup team; Peter Shilton, John Robertson etc.

"If he wants you to go, whatever he said, we obeyed. You don't disagree and question anything that he said. I would have liked to have stayed at Forest, but having said that, I enjoyed immensely my time at Manchester City, where I spent just the one year, but it was great.

"I left far, far too earlier at Nottingham Forest but the biggest regret I have is the amount of injuries I sustained."

Francis remains a revered figure with the Forest faithful after all these years, despite the fallout from his shock transfer from the City Ground.

When asked about Clough, Francis believes undoubtedly that he would be successful in today's game, even if he would have had to pay a lot of fines.

"He would be because I think he had the ability and the intelligence to manage, in any walk of life, it didn't necessarily have to be football. He was a leader of men. His style commanded huge respect and he think would have been a success certainly in modern day football.

"I'm not suggesting to you that he would have conformed to modern day ways, which are very, very different.

"I laugh at that (the scientific approach) because I just cannot imagine anyone going to Brian Clough and saying: listen this what I think you should do. I know what would happen. The guy would be instantly dismissed.

"Brian Clough would not conform to some of the modern day means. I think about the media as well, he was great with the media, but on his terms.

"Today you get fined if you don't turn up to after match press conferences, so I think he'd pay a lot of fines undoubtedly. Listen he had that talent and you never lose that.

"It's like Alex Ferguson. When he started managing at Manchester United it was very different to the last five, six years of his time but he adapted and was hugely successful. And Brian Clough would've been the same. He was just a great manager."

Francis returned to England with QPR in 1988 after six years abroad with Sampdoria, Atalanta and Rangers.

It was at Loftus Road where Francis had his first taste of management when he took over from Jim Smith in a player-manager role.

Although the spell was unsuccessful, Francis succeeded in his next role at Sheffield Wednesday, taking the club to an incredible third-placed finish behind Leeds United and Manchester United in 1992 and an FA Cup final the following season. He reached another Cup final with Birmingham City in 2001.

It is hardly a surprise Francis stepped into the dugout when you consider his playing career was peppered with some of British football's greatest minds, including Clough, Sir Alf Ramsey and Bobby Robson.

While he took as much as he could from those legends, Francis insists it was important to maintain his own personality during his management career.

"I think I'd be an idiot to dismiss all the knowledge that they've gained over the years and I've watched and listened and looked at what they've done in their managerial careers when I was playing under them and you know, I'm very fortunate to have had that opportunity.

"That's not to say I tried to model myself on any of those guys but you just take little bits of information and things they used and try to implement into your own management style.

'But you have to try and be yourself. You can't suddenly become somebody different. Then you're fake. Just be genuine, honest. I think players respond to that honesty and commitment."

An eloquent and articulate man, Francis used his knowledge and skills in the world of television once his management career finished at Crystal Palace, although he is quick to inform me that he never officially retired from the dugout.

Formerly a regular on Sky Sports and BT Sport, the past few years have been tough for Francis after his wife of 43 years, Helen, was lost to cancer in April 2017.

"The last 18 months to two years I haven't done too much. I've just started back now and I've got more enthusiasm within me because I lost my wife a couple of years ago and it really knocked the sh*t out of me.

"I don't have any regrets (about management) I'm happy doing what I'm doing and whatever I do I always try and do my best, whether it's doing an interview with yourself and I try and make this the best interview I've done so far over the past three or four days.

"I've got the philosophy in life: if you're not going to do it right, don't bother, don't do it all. It's the same with chatting to you now. If I didn't think I could give you a decent interview I wouldn't bother doing it."

Francis has certainly applied that philosophy to the writing of his new autobiography, One In A Million, which you can purchase by clicking here.